Full-fashioned hosiery seam construction



Nov. 11, 1952 s. nsANsoN 2,617,114

FULL-FASHIONED HOSIERY SEAM CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 18, 1950 INVENTOR STANTON D.SHN$ON ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 11, 1952 UNITED PATENT omc-E 'FULL FAsmONED H OS IE-RY SEAM CONSTRUCTION "Stamp r; Sanson; Elkins ParkIPag assignor to Sanson Hosiery Mills, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa., a' corporation oi-Delaware Application November 18,1950,.Serial No. 196,505

' 4 Claims.

The present invention relates generally to the art of hosiery and more particularly to fullfashioned nylon hosiery having animproved rear seam construction.

In the manufacture of full-fashioned hosiery, a flat shaped selvage-edged blank is knit'upon a knitting machine and subsequently the longitudinally extending selvage edges of the blank are sewn together to for m a closing seam for the stocking, the seam extending vertically along the back of the stocking fromthe welt to the toe portion thereof. In the process of forming the rear seam, it has been customary in the case of nylon hosiery to use either-two or three seaming threads, preferably the latter number, in which each of the seaming-threads has "been of 'multi-filament nylon construction of an overall weight of at least 60 denier to provide a sufiieiently strong seam. I-Ioweventhe use of such seaming threads, whichare considered necessary for strength, results in a relatively coarse rear seam which is objectionably bulky, especially on fine denier nylon hosiery. Furthermore, when the stocking itself is knit of mono-filament nylon yarn, its dye-taking characteristic is quite different from that of the 'multi-'-filament threads conventionally employed to form the rear seam of the stocking, and, consequently, it has been difficult, if not altogether impossible, to properly match the dye color of the seam to that of the stocking.

Having in mind the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a full-fashioned stocking with animproved construction of rear seam which is not only smaller, softer and of better texture than heretofore provided, but which is also fully as strong, if not stronger than, the seam conventionallyknit of multi-filament yarns. a n

More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rear seam for full-fashioned hosiery in which the seaming threads are formed of mono-filament nylon yarns to thereby obtain not only an improved seam of the character hereinbeiore described, but also eliminate the difficulty heretofore encountered in the hosiery art of dyeing the stocking and the seam to a uniform color.

Other objects and advantages "of" the present invention will appear more fully hereinafter, it

2 being understood that the present invention consists substantially in the combination,'constri1ction and relativearrangement of parts; all as will be described more fully hereinafter, a's-s'hown in the drawing and as finally pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 "is a perspective view of n a iull fashioned stocking having a rear seam constructed in accordance with and embodying the principles of thep'rese'nt invention; and

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view'on a greatly enlarged scale of a portion of the rear seam'of the stocking shown'encircled by the dotted line in Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawing, it will be observed that the present invention is shown'as 'being embodied in a full-fashioned stocking I0 which is provided with a longitudinally extending rear seam ll,'the stocking, except forfits rear seam,'being of any conventional construction which'need not" be described in detail.

The longitudinally extending rear seam ll of the stocking is shown diagrammatically on' a 'greatlyenlarged scale in Figure 2 wherein it will be observed that three seaming threads l2, l3 and M are employed to form the conventional overedge stitched construction of seam in which the longitudinallyextending selvage edges of the stocking blank, shown in phantom inFigure 2, are bound together to form the seam. 'It will "be noted that in accordancewith conventional seaming practice, spaced loops 'of' the seaming thread l2 pass through the two juxtaposed edges of the stocking blank immediately adjacent the selvage edges thereof; and that loops of the-seaming threadl3 respectively secure'the loops of the thread [2 and extend therefrom to and across the selvage' edgeso'f the stocking blank, the loops of the seaming thread l3 being there enteredby loops of the thread I l, which latter in turn" are extended to a point where'they are entered by the next succeeding loop of the seaming thread ventional in the hosiery art, it is not deemed necessary to describe in further detail the specific construction of the seam. However, it is desired to point out that the longitudinally extending selvage edge portions of the stocking blank are included within the overedge stitches of the seaming threads, regardless of whether two or three of the latter are employed to form the seam. the selvage edges of the stocking blank so included within the seaming threads forming the inner core or body of the stocking seam.

In the form of scam illustrated wherein three seaming threads l2, l3 and [4 are employed, as in the case where only two seaming threads are employed, it will be evident that these threads add to the bulk of the seam, especially at their crossing point, such as at 15, I6 and H where loops of one seaming thread pass through loops of another seaming thread. At these crossing points there are actually four thicknesses of thread concentrated in a knot-like formation, and, obviously, when conventional 60 denier multi-filament threads are employed to form the stocking seam, they form knot-like formations along the length of the seam each of a thickness equivalent to 240 denier, thereby resulting in a relatively coarse, heavy and excessively bulky seam.

In order that the rear seam of the stocking may be reduced in size and rendered finer, softer and more flexible without reduction in strength, the seam ll of the present invention is formed of seaming threads each of which is made up exclusively of mono-filament nylon yarn and is of an overall weight substantially less than 60 denier. Preferably, each such seaming thread is formed of two or more mono-filament yarns of sufiiciently low denier which are suitably twisted together to provide an overall weight of not more than 40 denier, although if desired a single strand of mono-filament yarn of requisite denier may be employed.

' Thus, two 15 denier or three denier monofilament yarns may be combined to provide a seaming thread of 30 denier overall weight, or two 20 denier yarns may be combined to provide a seaming thread of 40 denier total weight. In certain instances a single mono-filament yarn of 30 or 40 denier weight may be satisfactory as a seaming thread, particularly when the same is twisted upon itself a sufficient number of turns to increase its inherent strength and its flexibility. Inasmuch as mono-filament yarn is considerably stronger than multi-filament yarn for any given denier thereof, the seaming thread of the present invention provides not only a finer and less bulky seam, but also a much stronger seam than has heretofore been obtainable.

In the production of such finer seaming threads, where, for example, two denier monofilament yarns are combined to form the seaming thread, each of the mono-filament yarns thereof is preferably twisted right-hand 23 turns to the inch, following which the two yarns are twisted together left-hand with a uniting twist of 23 turns to the inch. The resulting seaming thread is thus formed of relatively tightly twisted monofilament yarns wherein the individual yarns are each twisted reversely from their combining twist, in consequence of which the inherent twistdistorting action of the individual strands is substantially neutralized to provide a two-ply monofilament seaming thread which is free of all distorting twist, which is readily workable for hosiery seaming purposes, which is free of any tendency to snarl or knot, which is exceedingly strong and yet quite pliable due to its low denier, and which has the same dye-taking characteristic as the mono-filament yarn now conventionally employed in the knitting of sheer nylon hosiery.

In a rear seam formed of these finer seaming threads a minimum amount of the selvage edge portions of the knitted stocking fabric need be incorporated in the body of the seam. However, even if the conventional amount of the selvage edge portions of the knitted fabric are bound together by the seaming threads of the present invention, the resulting seam is finer and less bulky because of the finer gauge of the seaming thread. When the present relatively low denier mono-filament seaming threads are used to form the stocking scam, the bulk of the latter is reduced not only because of the decreased denier of the seaming threads, but also because the knot-like formations at the several crossing points of the seaming thread loops are much finer and much less pronounced than those formed by the heavier denier multi-filament yarns in conventional use for the seaming of full-fashioned hosiery. Furthermore, the relatively tightly twisted multiple-ply, mono-filament seaming threads of the present invention, even when the component yarns thereof are each only 10 or 15 denier to provide a total weight not exceeding 40 denier, is fully as strong as, if not stronger than, the conventional seaming thread formed of 60 denier multi-filament nylon yarn, in consequence of this, full-fashioned hosiery seamed with seaming thread in accordance with the present invention are characterized by finer, slimmer and less bulky seams which not only enhance the attractive appearance of a stocking, but which also are strong and durable. Furthermore, in the case of hosiery knitted of mono-filament nylon yarn, since the seam of the stocking as constructed in accordance with the present invention is formed of seaming threads of the same mono-filament construction and denier as the yarn of which the stocking itself is knitted, the seam has the same dye-taking characteristics as the body of the stocking, and, consequently, there is no especial difi'iculty encountered in uniformly dyeing the stocking and its rear seam to the same matching color.

It will, of course, be understood that the present invention is susceptible of various changes and modifications which may be made from time to time without departing from the general principles or real spirit thereof, and it is accordingly intended to claim the invention broadly, as well as specifically, as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and useful is:

l. A full-fashioned nylon stocking having a longitudinally extending rear seam formed of a plurality of seaming threads each of which is made up of apair of low denier mono-filament nylon yarns, each individual yarn being similarly twisted in the same direction and with the same number of turns to the inch, the said pair of yarns being twisted together in the direction opposite the twist of the individual yarns with a combining twist of the same number of turns per inch as the individual yarn twist.

2. In afull-fashioned stocking of the character defined in claim 1 wherein each individual yarn of the seaming thread is of a denier not exceeding 20.

3. In a full-fashioned nylon stocking of the character defined in claim 1 wherein the twist of the individual yarn 01' the seaming thread is 23 turns right to the inch and whereinfihe combining twist of the pair of said yarns is 23 turns left to the inch. 5

4. A full-fashioned stocking having aflat-knit web portion basically knit of mongj-jfllament nylon yarn, the opposite selvage edges of said flat-knit web portion being bound together to form the longitudinally extending re the stocking by seaming threads each a pair of 15 denier mono-filament nylon yarns twisted together.

STANTON D. SANSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are 01 record iin the file of this patent: V V

5 UNITED STATES PATENTS l- Number Name Date 2,226,529 Austin 31, 1940 2,251,268 Clawson Aug. 5,1941 2,296,303 Weisbecker Sept. 2211942 2,483,455 Camp Oct. 4, 1949 

